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Considering this was our first season I am reasonably happy even though we finished below the media prediction. We were always around mid-table and never in real danger od being relegated. Our biggest problem was the defence, we simply could not hold on to leads when it mattered and often conceded 3+ goals in games.

Taça de Portugal Millennium

First Round - A very hard fought victory against a non-league side, should have been easier.Second Round - We fought back very well against a Tourizense side which just had been promoted to the Liga Orangina. A penalty miss by our goalkeeper Mota sealed their progression though.

The players already at the club were pretty rubbish, so I had to bring in a lot of players. The fact I only sign staff through the job centre and players that my scout finds/staff recommend meant that I rushed into a few signing at the end of the summer window. I feel it is a pretty limited squad, but it managed to see us through the division.

GK: Mota - Veteran goalkeeper picked up on deadline day. Did an OK job, but the fans aren’t too keen on him.DR: Neto - My only January signing, as I felt it was our weakest area in the first half of the season.DC: António Carvalho - Scored a hat-trick on his debut, but apart from that wasn’t anything special.DC: Filipe - On paper a very decent defender, but didn’t have the best of seasons.DL: Nuno Amaro - Couldn’t find any other decent left-backs, so went of this veteran.DMC: Ibraime - Even though he did not have the best ratings I liked his performances and think he could improve next season.MC: Ernesto - Decent midfielder, provided the team with a few goals.MC: Pituca - Moans every time he is substituted, might get rid of him as he is getting on my nerves.AMC: Emiliano Vecchio - The only player already at the club when I took over that played in the first 11. He did not correspond to his talent though. Is still relatively young, so am looking for a better next season.ST: Sylvain Ovono - Star of the team. The Cameroonian oldie was second best league scorer with 18 goals and was voted signing of the season. Hoping he can see through another season.ST: Nilton - Played a supporting role to Ovono, but also chipped in with his goals, also getting on a bit, don’t think he’ll play much next season.

Other News

Finances – Lost an average of 22-25 thousand euros a month, the loan has saved our balance but I doubt we’ll stop losing money whilst in this division.Team Records – Lots of new records due to it being the first season, highlight being best ever league position.Player Records – Lots of new records, but I reckon it will take some time until a player beat the current appearances and goals record.

A mixed year for the Azores sides, whilst it is brilliant to see the islands represented at the top level with the promotion of Santa Clara, having two teams relegated into non-league is definately very negative.

Derbies

U. Micaelense
League: 1-2 (a), 0-1 (h)
Overall Record: 0-0-2

Madalena
League: 1-2 (h), 1-5 (a)
Overall Record: 0-0-2

Awful performance against our island rivals, especially the last day mauling at already relegated Madalena.

A solid first season there corinthiano, hopefully you can build on that and aim towards promotion in the new season. That is a terrible effort against the other Azores teams, but at least you stayed up and they went down.

Yeah it was an awful performance againts the Azores sides, we were favourites for all ifxtures as well!! Operario Acores came up to replace them, hopefully I wont have as much of a bad time against them.

LLR - That squad looks pretty thin, but I remember coming across Hernani in my save and he looked pretty decent. Tried to sign him, but Machico wanted 5k for him so I gave up.

Yeah my whole squad looks a bit short after the top 2-3 players, I also have about 9 youth players after the squad above, but they are terrible...currently out and searching for players before the season starts...and then deciding on the formation to use, I would like to go with a 4-3-3 (DR/DC/DC/DL - DM/MC/MC - AMR/AML/ST), but we will see if I can actually find the players to fill that formation, otherwise it might be a more standard playing line-up.

- Top Half position in the league
- Enjoy a slightly longer cup run if draw allows
- Try and start signing younger players

The aim this season has to be to consolidate in the league as I see it as a transition stage. I didn’t manage to offload a lot of the players from last season, which limited the players I could bring in. The contracts all run out next season, which is when I will probably re-build the squad. Therefore expectations aren’t too high, I said top half, which means 8th place will do.

DR: Laranjeiro – Wasn’t exactly an area we were very weak at, but he was one of the better rated players my scout found. DC: Anderson – Brazilian centre-back, looks better than any of the current ones.DL: João Pedro – Not anything special, but had to bring him in as I didn’t think Nuno Amaro had another good season in him.MC/AMC: Marco Cláudio – I had let go a lot of very average midfielders so brought in this guy to give me more options. Think he will be in the first 11 though.MC/AMC: Élio – I really like the look of him, will be part of the midfield diamond.ST: Jaílson – Very decent looking Brazilian striker. Will be looking to replace Sylvain Ovono as the main goalscorer.

Given the circumstances I am satisfied with the players I have in every position, apart from up front. Ovono and Nilton have really gone downhill and here is no one very good to partner Jaílson up front. Unfortunately I couldn’t even find a half decent striker before the transfer window shut. I will have to see whether I can bring a striker in January, although I will have to release a few players to do that, seeing as I am €300p/w over my wage budget.

I've decided to stop my save game with EFC FSR for a little while so i can continue overacheiving in the prem with leeds (4th place with 2 games to go yay) the only problem with leeds game tho is that i started 1st season with 15mil (fm editor) and a boosted rep... only about 1-2 thousand but still...... i wish i didnt use editor but im 3 seasons in and overacheiving so hey, ill carry on cuz i cba to restart...

What a nail-biter of a climax! As the graph shows we again hovered around the top of the table during the season and a play-off place was secured with half a dozen games to go. Going into the penultimate game against Peterhead we were on the tails of Forfar. A dramatic injury-time winner saw us hit the top spot going into the final match of the season – against Forfar. In the 3 previous matches against Forfar this season we had lost all 3 so it was going to be tough. However, we held our nerve whilst Forfar lost theirs and goals from Roberts and Dickinson saw us crowned league champions for the second consecutive season! It was a cracker of a season and we find ourselves moving one step closer to the Premier league.

Scottish Cups.

Our Scottish cup form culminated in the visit of Celtic to OchilviewPark. We pushed them hard but ultimately class told and we were defeated.

Here’s a look at some of the key players for me in my promotion season:

Goalkeepers

Josh Wagenaar - Another solid season for Josh, although he was replaced towards the end of the season by Walker. Likely to miss out this coming season as better players come in.Sam Walker - the tall ex-Chelsea youth player came in at the end of the season and did well between the sticks, keeping Wagenaar out of the team.

Full Backs

Keiran Brennan - Lost out to Bihmoutine this season but is still a good squad player.Samir Bihmoutine - The ex-Arsenal player did a solid role at LB and was 1st choice all season.David McNamee - 1st choice Rb, club captain David performed well at the back. Getting on now and has competition at the club.

Centre Backs

Keiran Stallard - Another good season for Stallard as he played his part. Under threat though now for the coming season.Ignasi Miquel - 1st full season for the young Spaniard and he played well at the back.Steven Smith - the young Irishman did well in the games he played and provided competition to Stallard and Miquel.

Midfielders

Yohann Casabianca - the Frenchman came in mid-season and provided cover for Philliskirk. Good squad player.Daniel Chylaszek - The Polish winger had a good season on the LM and contributed with a few important goals. Solid if unspectacular player.Marlon Collier - Marlon did well when called upon but played in a competitive midfield and so his chances were restricted.Gary Dickinson - the Jamaican winger had a great first season scoring some key goals. Did everything I hoped he would.Jordan McCue - Played a supporting role to Dickinson this season and was solid when called upon.Daniel Philliskirk. - Another great season from Daniel. He has become vice-captain and is my own Steven Gerrard.Jon Routledge - Played as partner to Philliskirk most of the season and did ok, although it could have been better.Derek Ure - mainly cover to Chylaszek, Derek didn’t get much of a look in. offered him a new contract purely as cover for next season. Past his best now.

Strikers

Jordy Brouwer - the Dutchman had a fantastic first season and weighed in with 20 goals over the season. Jordy could be key for us in the First Division.Philip Roberts - Jordys’ strike partner helped form a prolific partnership and the Irishman scored 18 over the season. A dream strikeforce. Declan Bunting - Declan lost out to Jordy and Philip and had to make do with a place on the bench.Michael Ngoo - Like Declan, Ngoo had to make do with a place on the bench. Out of contract this summer, his future depends on who we can get in.

Another excellent win the Rlips looking good to stay up in the 1st division, really think your team is strong enough to do it and probably could target top half reasonably well. We started with a hiss and a roar in Portugal, but have slipped a little, our early title hunt has now seen us about 7pts off the top, 3pts behind 4th and 8pts ahead of 6th as we battle in 5th place at the mid point of the season, going to be tough.

I have to say I am surprised by the number of goals I have scored with my 4-5-1, but losing my top players is not helping...I have fixed the DR at the back as I had an extreme weakness there, hopefully with a full strength side I should be able to build towards a top 3 finish by the end of this season. Douglas Codo is a name to watch for, he is only about 22, and already the Liga Sagres teams are hunting him, I hope to hold onto him as he could be the strength of my side.

Cheers LLR. i am happy with the strength of my squad and with the additions i've made it's not too bad. already up to November in new season - doing ok in mid-table at moment. sounds like you've got a good player on your hands.....

Well mid table is good, hopefully that can continue. In the offseason I added about 4-5 more players of the level of Codo, so looking good all around. We managed to recover a little bit of ground, but we will still be in the Segunda Divisao Sul for the new season, a full update will come, but a final day victory away to U.Madeira saw us manage to pull off fourth place on away goals.

Well we started off with a hiss and a roar as we scored 19 goals to 9 in our first 6 games, a huge start to the season, we then drifted a little bit through the middle of the season and it took a lot for us to gain the momentum back as we dropped down the table, the clubs of Madeira were doing well though as Maritimo B topped the table, U.Madeira came 5th, us 4th and Camacha in 6th. I was actually happy with a final position of 4th, and with a few additions to the defense coming in the summer, plus some extras through the middle we could see a massive improvement. We may have scored 64 goals, but we conceded a terrible 43 throughout the 30 games.

Taca de Portugal

We started with a match against Operirao Azores, which we won 2:0, then we went on to beat Pescadores 5:1 in the second round, which meant we went further than the boards expectations. We were drawn against Portimonense who had just been relegated from Liga Sagres, we had a great run as we held it to nil all through 120 mins, and it took 7 rounds of a penalty shoot-out before we dropped out 6:5.

30. Marco Sousa - The best goalie we have, he conceded a lot of goals, but I put some of it down to our defense, we will work on conceding less goals going forward.

33. Nuno Carrapato - The back-up managed to play near the end of the season following an injury, again not amazing, but I think he is good enough for this level.

Defenders

4. Bruno Resende - A solid season at the back, he was the best of the central defenders I used and he managed to play in all 33 games our team played this season, the only player to achieve that.

3. Cristiano - He played mainly at centre-back, but he was a great replacement for right back as well, at the start I thought he would be the number 1 DC, but he just wasn't quite good enough, and will probably be replaced in the new season.

5. Filipe - The back up left back, he really didn't impress and this ended up being the weakest slot in my entire squad by the end of the season.

18. Guido - A back-up for the centre, but he really became a solid option, he came onto the field in nearly every game and built a good combo in the middle.

62. Hernani - I signed him in January as a replacement for Kikas, the weakest point of our team in January, he fixed the problem and was a major reason our team ended up in 4th spot by the end.

16. Salvador - The left back was solid, but is weak compared to the rest of my side.

Midfielders

21. Chico - He started the season as the back-up DM, but he stepped up during a suspension and he never looked back as he made the position his own.

8. Douglas Codo - I signed Codo as a possible back-up when looking at him, but an injury early on saw him step straight into the side and he became the clubs superstar, 13 goals, 11 assists and 5 man of the match awards on his way to being named the fans player of the year, Newton's Star of the Year, Runner-up in the Player of the Year and making the 2nd Division Team of the Year.

10. Joao Oliveira - The 20 year old will be disappointed to only play 17 games, he will be hoping he can force his way into more time, but he is solid.

23. Junior - The youngster was average, but he was the best we had to line up alongside Codo, nothing amazing, but solid enough.

13. Manuel Dos Santos - 14 assists from the winger was an excellent effort, if he can keep that up he could be part of the reason that we could make a run at the title.

Wingers

7. Carlos Veloso - The left winger ended up doing very well here, he came out of the season with 9 goals, 6 assists and 4 man of the match awards, definitely looking like a good prospect at only 23.Strikers

11. Aboubacar Tandia - A good solid season from the frenchman upfront, he scored 17 goals, but had some injuries and an issue with a goal drought in the middle of the season. Looks solid as a goalscorer in my 4-5-1 though.

1. Frank Kornu - The man from Ghana was a find, he may have only been a back-up to Tandia, but he got a fair amount of game time. 8 Goals from 17 games is just under 1 in 2, so he is satisfactory. Look for him to battle more next season.

Well we started off with a few friendlies where we could score some goals and hopefully boost the clubs confidence, we got a true winner with 12 goals scored in one match, Tandia was on fire while Chico was out injured, but hopefully Chico can now step up and score some goals to lead the team.

LLR: Good first season there and I am very jealous of your signings, key indication is the fact that Ibraime is my best Anchor Man...

Yeah though I don't play by letting my scouts find players, though admittedly they did find Fonseco & Codo who I believe are two of my strongest players. Ibraime is strong in the role, but Fonseca was just better. Now I am hoping to try and find some better players for my defense as after Elvis & Zamorano, my team is kinda bare...

Yeah though I don't play by letting my scouts find players, though admittedly they did find Fonseco & Codo who I believe are two of my strongest players. Ibraime is strong in the role, but Fonseca was just better. Now I am hoping to try and find some better players for my defense as after Elvis & Zamorano, my team is kinda bare...

How do you find your players? Do you go through the player search screen? I just don't have the time or can be bothered to go through hundreds of players anymore, so am more than happy to trust my scouts with finding me talent, which can limit the quality of players available at times...

How do you find your players? Do you go through the player search screen? I just don't have the time or can be bothered to go through hundreds of players anymore, so am more than happy to trust my scouts with finding me talent, which can limit the quality of players available at times...

I have about 5 key attributes I am looking for in each position. so when I have no money I filter by based in the places I can scout (eg Central Europe or Brazil or Argentina), and then by Contract Expired or Expiring 6 months, or Unattached, or Amateur, or Value at most = 0. Then I go to my view showing the key attributes I want, I pick about 5 players for each position and then get my scouts to scout them all, so I get about 50-100 scout reports in total, and go through them and offer contracts to all the ones I want in my club. Thats how I do my main search in June/July, then at other times I am generally focusing on filling only one or two positions, eg DL right now, so I am going into the search screen filtering and scouting anyone who might be able to do a job, if I need a back-up I am looking at Under 25s only because I want them to be around for a while, even if only in a back-up role. I also use the Assistant Advice Team Report screen to check out some other players who could fill the gap my AssMan thinks is the worst.

Yeah I built it up over time, and it really cuts down the numbers of playersz to look through, now when I start a new game I import all my filters across so that I can just hit a button and load them for ease, and I already have about 15 different views on squad, shortlist and search screens lol.

WOW...don't really know what happened, so admittedly there have been a few terrible losses so far this season, but I didn't even see it coming, I came out of a 3:2 loss to a relegation bound team who we were leading 2:0 at halftime and I had no job...going to holiday to the end of the season and see what I can do...

Well I have now taken over Penalva do Castelo and I am going to show Machico exactly where they stuffed up. I am tempted to bring along a player or two from Machico, but most tempted to just beat them all over the park.

I think it was a combination of, not meeting expectations (Challenge for Title), over wage budget, and a couple of losses to terrible opposition. They came together to just be enough to give me the boot. I can see the huge drop in reputation at th new club and I am really going to have to work to get players here.

Well the big game is here and upon us, going into the game we are each sitting there with a game in hand, but Penalva are in 7th with 14pts, Machico are in 10th with 11pts. So we have a headstart in the league. So in the press conference I said I was keen to show them what they were missing...

So the line-ups are as follows: Formation - Some key things to watch for Dally on our Left Wing, Castro as an Anchor, and Loureira for a screamer. For Machico you have to keep an eye on Chico, Junior, Codo and Dos Santos on attack, and the strong defense I built them which remains intact.

First Half
9 Min: Castro Injured, Corner evades Elvis, saved by Sousa.
13 Min: Joazmair taken down in the box, PENALTY
13 Min (a): Joazmair steps up, shoots and misses wide left.
19 Min: Dos Santos gets free in our box, shoots and misses.
28 Min: Chico free in the area from a beautiful Dos Santos ball, he hits it past Rene GOAL!!! but it has been disallowed, Offside is the call.Wow, got out of that one lucky
29 Min: Osardejor gets himself deep into the box after an awesome run, steps right and shoots high and wide.
31 Min: Dos Santos playing on the left side runs forward and centres the ball right into the goal, Rene fumbles and the ball drops to Resende who drops it straight into the net GOAL!!!! Machico scores 1:0And there we are down after 1/3rd of the game, definitely looking competitive though away from home.
The rest of the half was spent down near the goal, but a few attempts we had were poor and nothing came from them. Need to fire the boys upHalftime: Machico 1:0 PenalvaRenato comes on for Castro at halftime, and we move to a 4-4-2 for more attacking options
53 Min: 8 mins before something comes from it and another blast over the top from Osardejor as he receives an excellent ball through from Joazmair, this pair are ruining all our chances.
57 Min: Santos was injured by Dos Santos, but the game continues for a couple of minutes before we commit a foul to get it stopped so we can go back to 11 players, from the free kick play continues.
61 Min: great play by Resende playing the ball to Salvador running down the left wing, he crosses to the middle for Dos Santos who gets above the keeper and heads it home, GOAL!!!! Machico scores 2:0Looks like I may be in a little bit of trouble now, the team is down, our boys morale is gone and Machico are all over us

The rest of the second half is barely worth mentioning...we were terrible...

it has a little... i admit i am dabbling currently between my East Stirling save and also a little Arsenal game as i'm challenging my brother to a "who is best" at managing Arsenal game. still plaing East Stirling though.

I find a good way to make a choice like that is to flip a coin, or otherwise load up two games, holiday through to the picked date and then pick from the teams available on each picking one you like the most...

Hi guys - I've just rejoined the world of FM after a 2 and a half year absence. The "other half" used to go insane every time a new came out as she knew she would loose my attention of an evening and weekend!

I've just purchased FM from Game via the website and as its a download there will no Game carrier bag, no receipt and more importantly NO BOX!!!!
I can now pretend I'm working and play FM on my laptop without any evidence out there to trip me up!!!

In my last game i was Leyton Orient and managed to get them to the Prem but never had any success in Europe - late i know but im going to give this challenge a go!

Im going to start in Russia - just going through my "holiday" now so will post again when im set up with a team etc....

Haven't given up on my save yet, just had no time to play in the last 3 weeks. If I don't get sacked for underachieving this season I reckon next season could mark some significant improvement if I manage to replace my squad as I have planned.

I'd say go have a look around the skinning forum for some stuff. Personally I'm using the shiny logos megapack and I'm yet to come across any team that wasn't extremely obscure that didn't have a logo in the game.

Quite a few big-name outgoings this season, with Petukhov leaving in July and then João Pinto and Leanoardo leaving us in the new year. I was very reluctant to let Leonardo go, as he was a great talent, but £2m plus 20% of a future transfer was too big an offer to refuse really.

[[Transfers]]
(apologies for the stitched together image - lots of youngsters released on frees in the missing middle bit)

With the exception of Josué, who was to cover for the departing João Pinto, every single player I brought in was one for the future.

The Staff

One big change this season as my AssMan decided to take up a management role in the Liga Orangina. Tó Miguel stepped up into the role from that of a coach. I don't think there's much of the world now where I don't have at least some scouting presence.

The Club

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, attendances were up again. Unfortunately, the board won't currently entertain the idea of expanding. The money coming in from sales did, however, convince the board to finally upgrade some facilities, with the recruitment network going up to fairly basic, and the youth facilities in the process of an upgrade now. This season also saw me get approached by the board at Sporting. I think if this wasn't a challenge game, I'd have found it extremely hard to turn that down.

Supertaçal

Playing Benfica is never easy. They were definitely the better team, but we didn't roll over at all. Unfortunately, it just wasn't enough and we lost.

Straight in to the third round this year, but with the exception of Santa Clara the group was not easy. Funny that, because we made it look easy, to book our place in the semis against Leira...

The League

We carried on our good run from the previous year, and with two thirds of the season behind us sat a very impressive 4th. Somehow it all fell apart though, as we lost the last 6 games of the campaign, slumping to a disappointing 8th.

Up to this point, I'd had a pretty good record against Leira, having won 5 of our previous 10 meetings. Unfortunately, not only was the match away, but it came at an awful time for us. 9 members of the first team were away on international duty plus a couple of injuries. I was forced to use U19 players just to have a full compliment of strikers on the pitch, with no cover on the bench either. This was further compounded when Dani was forced off just before half time with an injury. They dominated proceedings, but all things considered I'd say we put up an excellent fight - only losing narrowly in the end.

Leg one saw us at home and I was itching for my second piece of silverware. We came out amazingly, 2-0 up by half time and adding a third not long after the break. We fell asleep after that, though, allowing them to pull 2 back

After the two away goals, I knew we had to stay strong in the second leg. Conceding a goal on the 12th minute was definitely not part of my plan. We kept battling, though, and were eventually rewarded with a 67th minute equaliser. Unfortunately we weren't in for a repeat, as we let another one slip through on the 80th and just didn't have the legs to get back on level terms - out on away goals.

I honestly can't say I'm disappointed with that season. The awful fall from grace at the end was annoying, but overall we definitely performed to the level that I'd expect.

Key Players

Lionel Aguerre - After a couple of quiet years, Aguerre has regained his promotion-winning form. 18 in 27 for the league, and 27 in 37 overall is a great return for one of a 3 man strike force.

Ugochukwu Yakubu - At only 19, this lad still has a lot of room for growth. He started every single league game this season, and the consistent game time definitely showed in his stats.

Andreas Werner - Did exactly what I needed him to do in stopping opposing wingers from having an impact. Averaging nearly 7 tackles a game in the league and a 7.08 average rating.

Prospects

All brought-in again, I'm afraid:

Daniel Scholz - Coach Report - Hotly tipped German Centre-back. Having a little trouble fitting into life in Portugal at the moment, but I'm hoping he'll get himself sorted out.

Atanas Nenov - Coach Report - Only 18, but already I've seen fit to give him a couple of matches. I seem to be falling over good young 'keepers at the moment though, so he's got some work to do to win out.

Ronald van Brakel - Coach Report - I nearly put Ugo in here again, but seeing as he's a first team regular it didn't seem right. van Brakel has already shown himself pretty capable in a supporting role, so hopefully he can develop further and challenge for a first team place.

Awards

Lots of nominations this year, but the only one we got was Lionel Aguerre third place for top league scorer

2019/20 Goals

Make a push for Europe - We'd have got there, too, if it weren't for that collapse

After my failure in Portugal I decided I wanted to take a team from East Germany to the top (or at least fail at it). I remembered trying to get RB Leipzig to come up with the 11.1 database and it just wouldn’t happen, so it was a nice surprise to see them come up now!

They will definitely provide an easier challenge, the club has average training facilities and good youth facilities with an academy. They also get €5M per year until 2019 in sponsorship, IRL the money coming from Red Bull. They play their games at the Red Bull Arena, the formerly named Zentralstadion which was used in WC 2006.

We started off extremely well and led the league for good part of the start of the season. In what was ultimately a very even league our inconsistency in the second half of the season cost us and we slipped all the way down to 7th.

I inherited a very good squad, which unfortunately wasn’t 100% suited to the formation I play, so I sold a shed load of wingers. As usual, I signed a lot of players in the first season to add to squad depth.

GK: Tino Berbig – Decent goalie picked up on a freeDR: Lars Weißenfeldt – Only permanent signing I paid for, purely due to the fact I couldn’t find any other half decent right full-backs.DC: Frank Fahrenhorst – The veteran was signed on a free from Schalke and was very composed at the back, chipping in with quite a few goals as well.DC: Tim Sebastian – Very good defender who was already at the club, is captain.DL: Igor Jovanovic – Only signed him because you need at least 4 German U-23s in your match day squad (he has German second nationality), but he surprised me with some very good displays.DMC: Timo Rost - Veteran Anchor Man that was already at the club. Lost his place in the first 11 towards the end of the season and should only be a back-up next season.MC: Thiago Rockenback – Another one already at the club, started the season as my playmaker but turned into a Box to Box Midfielder once I signed Bruggink.MC: Romeu Ribeiro – Former Benfica youth picked up on a free. Very good defensively and was also able to contribute a lot offensively.AMC: Arnold Bruggink – The veteran was brought in the January window and is clearly a different league to the rest of the players.ST: Carsten Kammlott – Striking starlet already at the club, had a good season and was our top scorer.ST: Stefan Kutschke – Another one already at the club, played a supporting role to Kammlott.

Other News

Finances – Would be screwed if it wasn’t for the massive sponsorship money, only made a €600k profit.

Due to finishing 10 places above predicted we were crowned overachievers of the season. The facilities are being upgraded. Also thought this was a bit harsh, but luckily for Ingolstadt they are re-doing the terracing before the start of the new season.

Well the first 7 games seemed to show a great chance for our club going forward, was going to be an excellent season at that point having gone 4-2-1 through the start of the season. Three of those victories were against teams that ended up in the top half of the table, so it should've been an ontrack season. We were sitting in 5th overall when we had Camacha who were 4th coming to town, the result was a 0:1 loss, we followed this up by losing to Machico, my old club 0:2. Then we started on a horror run as we lost 9 of 11 games in a stretch through the middle, this included such terrible results as 1:5 away to Casa Pia, 0:6 at home to Farense and 3:6 to Louletano, who we had drawn with early in the season. We also managed a 7:2 victory over Pinhalnovense during that run. That dropped us way back down the table and I could see a relegation fight was coming, but we managed to sit ahead of it in 11th for most of the end of the season by winning 5 of our last 7 games to steal 10th on the final day of the season. That good run at the end, including 5 goals in the 7:2 win, saw Renato step up and take the Golden Boot for the league with 24 goals, the club lifted to over 60 goals for the season as well. Our goalscoring is definitely the high point, and hopefully with a few off-season changes we can build a better defense.

A competition we were never likely to have a chance in, but we built two good wins to make it into the third round. This left us facing U.Madeira and we dropped that match three goals to one and it was all over, in the new season I am hoping to get into the fourth round with my new crop of players.

18. Luis Bornes (MC) - When I first signed him in January it looked like he would be a bench only player, behind the others, but Bornes turned into a star and his combination with Osardejor led to some great goals.

6. Marcio Sampaio (MC) - The more defensive player in the pairing I brought in during January, he was solid from the first and as such will remain in the role without a doubt.

72. Cejero (MRL) - The captain of our mixed up bunch, he managed 8 assists in the season, but really he needs to improve if he wants to hold onto the captaincy or even the position.

27. Joazimar (MR) - With 7 assists and 3 goals he looked pretty good, but in general he was very inconsistent as he continued to be unable to keep performances going when he got a run on. The best winger in our squad.

Strikers1. Renato (ST) - 24 Goals in 31 games, with 5 games in the 7-2 Romp of Pinhalnovense, the 32 year old was the top scorer in the league all season, beating out Chico from Machico as well. A huge season as he broke every goalscoring record there was.

This time we didn’t start as well, dropping a few silly points and not performing consistently. By the the half way point of the season we had established ourselves though and managed to turn the year in 2nd place. After that we didn’t look back and had an amazing 2013, including a 10 game winning streak, which coincided with 10 games without conceding too. Paderborn were also in amazing form, but we managed to seal the title on the last day with a 5-0 thumping of Dortmund II.

Even though I was given €275k to spend I was very reluctant to use it, seeing as I could decent players on frees to. Also had two bigger value sales, Pedro Moreira was never first choice so it seemed logical to sell him. Jovanovic had a very good first season, but when an offer for 3 times his value came in I knew I had to cash in, seeing as he was easily replaceable.

GK: Tino Berbig – Had another solid season, but I will be looking for a new keeper for the 2. Bundesliga.DR: Andreas Görlitz – Signed on a free from Ingolstadt, the ex-Bayern trainee was very solid.DC: Frederik Møller – Stumbled up on him and what a great signing. The young dane was excellent at the back and I have already has to reject a €600k offer from SV Ried for him.DC: Tim Sebastian – The captain had an amazing season, earning the best average rating of the league.DL: Sergiy Symonenko – I had signed Krük as my replacement for Jovanovic, but an agent offered me this guy and he seemed a much better short term solution. Didn’t disappoint.DMC: Jurica Vranjes – Signed him at the end of the last season, his experience was vital this season as he protected the best defence in the league, with only 26 goals conceded in 38 games.MC: Thomas Broich – Signed on a free, was consistent if unspectacular.MC: Thomas Salamon – Picked him up on a free during the season, looked good and unlike most of my other midfielders is still relatively young.AMC: Sebastián Grazzini – Signed on a Bsoman from Orihuela in Spain and he was my signing of the season. Dictated play and provided the strikers with deadly passes like a proper playmaker. Was voted 2nd best player in the league as well.ST: Carsten Kammlott – If he had a good season last season, he had an absolute cracking season this one. Scored some impressive goals and was 3rd best Top Goalscorer with 21 goals. Has complained about moving a couple of times so far, but has been calmed down with assurances I want him to grow with the club.ST: Niklas Hörber – Another player signed only because of the 4 German U-23 rule, but this one turned out even better, forming an excellent partnership with Kammlott.

Other News

Finances – Actually last money this season, which is very worrying, am hoping that the big league money in 2.Bundesliga will make us break even next season.

Not a bad season in fairness. I wanted to stay up comfortably which is exactly what I did. For a while it looked like the playoffs were a possibility but I just missed out. There is definitely a platform here to build from for next season. Nothing of note in the Serie C cup finished 2nd but not one of the 8 best 2nd placed teams.

Stars of the Season

Steeve Gerard Fanka
Well named my right midfielder had an amazing season. 14 assists and contributed so much going forwards. Signing of the season in my opinion.

Diego Lopez Centurion
Striker in deadly form all season. Without his 19 goals I wouldn't have had a chance of staying up. Hope to find a good partner for his next season.

Guillaume Valmy
Very solid at the back. Also contributed with 3 goals at the other end. Very useful player.

Wow what a season, never expected to do so well, my main targets were to mount a title challenge and to do as well as we can in the Champions cup, not to win them both, altho im not complaining at all.

We were on course for my targets up until about November, then our squad started to dip in form slightly, so when the transfer period opened I was quick to splash some cash and I think I spent around £20m on afew new faces I was planning on brining in ready for next season.

The new players settled in well and we were back to winner form which we carried all the way through the rest of the season.

Well we had to do this the hard way and qualify first but an impressive 10-5 agg win over Fenerbahce saw us draw Basel, Valencia and Man Utd, after playing very well against them all and finishing 1st in our group we were drawn against the easier side of Lille, beating them 6-5 on agg.

Next up was the Quarter Final, drawn against Palermo, which was another easier team to play as we were used to the way they play, beating them 12-3 on agg.

Semi Final against A.C Milan, 1st leg was at Home so I wanted to try an get an early lead, and we played well winning 3-1, 2nd leg away, all we needed to do was keep it tight at the back but our team couldn’t do that and Zongo scored after 18mins, then A.C Milan started to play scoring 2 before the break, a change of tactics at half time was enough to keep A.C Milan from scoring there much needed 4 goal but it was a nail biting 45mins.

Final, against Atletico Madrid played at the Stade Roi Baudouin, Brussels. Just a take it as it comes type of match telling the lads before kick off that they could go on and win, but Atletico Madrid were the first to score after just 3mins and I thought there were more to come, but goals galore Mantova went on to score 3 with no answer from Madrid until just before half time when they hit 1 back, then Zongo hit his 25th Champions Cup goal on the stroke of half time. Which was the last goal of the game, a boring 2nd half with neither team attacking.

Now I posted something similar on the FM10 thread when I had not responded for a while, so here goes...

Liverbird - Best of Luck in Italy, hopefully you can go the distance with Hinterreggio and make it to the top of the world. (Or at least Europe), a good solid first season there in coming 9th, hopefully it will improve in the seasons to come. Hard Luck on finishing third there, hopefully the playoffs go well.

MattSpurs - Nice to see more competitors in Germany as always, good luck with Kiel, a Top half finish is not easy, but should be doable so long as you can bring in the right players from around Central Europe.

elsid - WOOOOHOOOO, Congrats on that finish there, really pushed it to the last in the Champions League, a 117th minute own goal to win it lol...

corinthiano - Nice second season with RB Leipzig there, looking forward to watching your club build as you move up the German Leagues.

danger_mouse - Wow Zongo is a goalscoring machine, I thought Renato with 24 from 25 was good for me, but that is a miracle effort, Congrats on only the 6th completion of the year, I should start trucking on with an aim of joining that list before the end of the year.

Jordann - Welcome aboard, it is never too late to start. Delighted to see you playing in Portugal, it has really become my home away from home. The only nation where I have ever made the top league even, we just need a Manager Screenshot from you.

As for me, everyone knows I am running my short challenges thread, A Vida Curta, am always welcoming new entrants into the fun that is the true short game. I am also playing along as Penalva Castelo in 2014, I have just completed my offseason so I will post a small update on the injuries to both my back-up strikers and also the range of up and down results we had, the huge number of central midfielders I brought in and where I am going to from here.

Best of luck to any other challengers I have missed and I hope you are all enjoying your saves.

Jordann - Welcome aboard, it is never too late to start. Delighted to see you playing in Portugal, it has really become my home away from home. The only nation where I have ever made the top league even, we just need a Manager Screenshot from you.

so after a few days away i'm back.... been dabbling in a few games trying to find a game to get going (i am struggling for motivation for now with East Stirlingshire...) i echo everything LLR said - welcome to the newcomers and congrats to those who completed the challenge!

i'm currently just starting a new game within this thread - if i can bed in i will reveal all but it is a team i couldn't really resist managing...

So in the transfer window we have brought in 12 players on frees, and let 5 others go. This has meant we are about 1k over our 2k wage budget, so I am probably going to have to make some harsh decisions on who to keep and who to sell in the near future. Of those 12 players, five are straight into the starting XI, one is on the bench and three are future prospects upfront where we needed cover.

With 4 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses it was a very up and down friendly period, but really a couple of the draws and losses came late against our reserves, so I was pretty happy with it. And we managed to get the whole squad match fit and ready to go, with the exception of a couple of players. The Results.

The Injuries

Well we ended up getting hit by some terrible injuries upfront as Oliveira and Vando got injured in the last few games, and will both be out in the range of Months with a broken ankle or damaged Achilles. So the start of the season will see Renato actually holding onto his starting Strikers spot even though it looked like one of the young guns would beat him out.

danger_mouse - Wow Zongo is a goalscoring machine, I thought Renato with 24 from 25 was good for me, but that is a miracle effort, Congrats on only the 6th completion of the year, I should start trucking on with an aim of joining that list before the end of the year.

Yea Zongo was sensational for me, even tho my Ass Man rates him as my 3rd best striker.

Im unsure whether to carry on my Mantova save and see if i can win everything i can this season, or start the Challenge again with a different club in a different country? This is by far the best Challenge i have tryed

A good season for us where we were at the top of the table for most of it. We had a bad run of form about half way through which dropped us down a bit. Before a strong finish saw us finish 3rd. We went into the playoffs against Matera with the away leg first. A 3-0 drubbing basically meant we weren't getting promoted this year. We drew 1-1 in the return leg to lose 4-1 on aggregate. Quite annoying but we will be back next year. Matera went on to get promoted.

CUP

We managed to qualify out of the group even though we had A C1 team in there. But we lost in the first round but not too disappointed.

STARS OF THE SEASON

Diego Albadoro
Amazing. SImply amazing. His goals were the reason we did as well as we did. When he didn't score we didn't score.

Steeve Gerard Fanka
Just like last year he pops up with a few assists and was generally solid for us on the right wing.

Diego Lopez Centurion
Last year he was the goalscorer. This year the provider. He created many of Albadoro's goals as well as scoring quite a few himself.

Hectic! Only way I can describe the season! We managed to start off winning, then hit an incredible patch of being unable to win, and unable to score until the final 10 games! January helped the team through a few new players, and brought in goals! We managed to avoid relegation on the last game of the season and finish 12th.

Next season the aim is to finish in the top half and be safe!

Transfers
Transfer Budget: £0k
Wage Budget: £3.4k p/w
16 in (£0), 6 out (£0)
Well the club, after gaining promotion to league football, was lacking in quality and quantity, so I went and bought 16 players, maybe the team took time to settle and that's why we didn't kick-off until the end of the season!